Carlsbad gives state power plant fire duties

CARLSBAD  Carlsbad City Council members have changed the city’s fire codes to make the state the primary agency responsible for emergency and fire protection for a proposed power plant near the coast.

The decision Tuesday puts the city in a secondary position during an emergency at that location.

The move is the latest in a five-year battle over the plant between city officials, the California Energy Commission and NRG Energy Inc., the New Jersey-based company that owns the existing Encina Power Station in Carlsbad.

The company submitted plans in 2007 to build a new 558-megawatt power plant next to the existing power plant at its 400-foot smokestack. The new facility would generate enough electricity to power about 360,000 homes.

Joe Garuba, municipal property manager for Carlsbad, said the city’s Fire Department has expressed numerous concerns about the location of the proposed plant and the access roads. The Fire Department proposed to have a 50-foot wide access road around the base of the property as an acceptable width. Garuba said the state Energy Commission has dismissed the suggestion and made it clear that the commission has primary responsibility for the plant.

“We think there’s real issues and concerns,” Garuba said, “and we want to make sure everybody recognizes the Energy Commission is the responsible agency, not us.”

The commission is set to vote on approving the power plant project at a meeting in Sacramento Thursday. If the plant is approved, the project would still have to clear the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California State Lands Commission and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.